1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for a conference call mediation service, and more particularly, to a conference call mediation service which allows for the scheduling of multi-participant conferences of subscribers over the Internet.
2. Description of the Art
The use of the Internet for conferencing is growing as more individuals make more extensive use of their personal computers both at home and at work. These Internet conferencing uses include video-conferencing, viewing of graphical and textual materials, taking notes, real-time Emails, etc. As this type of use of the Internet grows, several patents related to this area have issued. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,692, issued on Aug. 19, 1997 to Poggio, et al., relates to a Computer Method and Apparatus for Video Conferencing in which graphics and video data can be transmitted between a multiplicity of workstations coupled to one another across the Internet. Interactive video conferencing results as the workstations communicate the images in real-time to each other.
However, before any such conferencing is possible, the participants must resolve differences in scheduling times, conference agendas, materials, etc. Thus, there is a need before the conference for a negotiation phase which can also be accomplished over the Internet. Until now the negotiation phase of conferencing has drawn little attention. In fact, the known multi-party oriented conference protocols, such as H.323, SAP and SIP, have largely ignored pre-conference negotiation and have instead focused on, at most, the five phases of the multi-media conference itself. That is: 1) User Location (i.e., resolving participants"" addresses and determining the end systems to be used); 2) User Capabilities (i.e., determining the media parameters for the RTP protocol); 3) User Disposition (i.e., determining each participant""s willingness to join the conference); 4) Call Setup (i.e., ringing, alerting, and establishing call parameters between participants); and 5) Call Handling (i.e., including data transfer, run-time changes of capabilities and call termination). Thus it is clear that the pre-conference negotiation phase is outside the scope and capability of these protocols.
Accordingly, the present invention proposes a method and apparatus for a conference call mediation service which allows for the scheduling of multi-participant conferences of subscribers over the Internet. A special Internet server, a Web Service Control Point (WSCP), acts as the conference call mediation service by conducting one or more rounds of pre-conference scheduling negotiations.
The WSCP, upon receipt of a conference request from a prospective conference host, generates a unique conference ID which identifies information pertaining to the requested conference. After generating the unique conference ID, and ensuring that the conference request is complete, the WSCP sends an acknowledgment to the conference host and contacts potential conference participants. Potential participants are given the opportunity to make changes to the proposed conference as the WSCP conducts a number of rounds of negotiation. If an agreement as to the conference is reached, the WSCP coordinates the scheduling of the conference over the chosen means of communication.
The present invention, including its features and advantages, will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.